Serena Ryder

Growing up in Millbrook, Ontario, a short distance from Peterborough, Serena Ryder absorbed Beatles and Leonard Cohen albums pulled from her parents’ record collection. Public performances began in early childhood, and after her father gave her a guitar she started playing the instrument at thirteen, soon moving into songwriting. In 2002 the eighteen-year-old assembled live recordings from a Quebec show into an official demo that reached CBC Radio and secured an on-air invitation. Hawksley Workman caught the broadcast and immediately called the station to offer her a chance to record for his Isadora label.

With Workman and two additional musicians providing support, she completed her debut album, Unlikely Emergency, released in 2004 and reissued in the United States the following year. Strong reception earned her a performance slot at the 2005 Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame press conference, where the suggestion arose that she record covers of songs by Canadian writers. If Your Memory Serves You Well, containing twelve covers and three originals, appeared in late 2006. Ryder soon opened shows for Aerosmith and received the 2008 Juno Award for Best New Artist, developments that preceded the November 2008 release of her sophomore album, Is It O.K. A U.S. edition followed one year later, and she strengthened her American profile by duetting with American Idol graduate Jason Castro on his 2010 debut album.

She then moved to Capitol Records and began an extended writing process for the next project, discarding sixty songs before selecting the final set with producer Jerrod Bettis. Harmony, the resulting album, arrived in Canada in late 2012 and reached the United States in summer 2013. It became her highest-charting release to that point by reaching number eleven in Canada, and she was named Artist and Songwriter of the Year at the 2014 Juno Awards, which she also co-hosted. After the single “Got Your Number,” she issued the more energetic Electric Love EP in spring 2017.